By Bianca Vázquez Toness and Sharon Lurye, AP Education Writers The COVID-19 pandemic devastated poor children’s well-being, not just by closing their schools, but also by taking away their parents’ jobs, sickening their families and teachers, and adding chaos and fear to their daily lives. The scale of the disruption to American kids’ education is […]
Category: NEWS
Posted inAfro Briefs
Opioid overdose deaths nearly triple among Black Virginians
By Luca Powell,Richmond Times-Dispatch via The Associated Press Darryl Cousins counts three friends who have died of an overdose in the past two months. Some were folks he had used with years ago when he was in active addiction. Others he tried to help in his role as a counselor at several recovery houses in […]
Posted inHBCU
PRESS ROOM: UNCF Endorses HBCU Infrastructure Bill
Calling for congressional action now; bill is “necessary” for HBCUs’ growth and development By Black PR Wire UNCF has come out in full support of the revamped HBCUs IGNITE Excellence Act, H.R. 8803. This bill is the most important single piece of legislation for HBCUs before this Congress, and it must be passed by both […]
Posted inHBCU
PRESS ROOM: Howard University Announces Record $122 Million in Annual Research Funding; Creating New Opportunities for Students & Faculty
By Black PR Wire WASHINGTON – In 2018, Howard University announced a goal of raising $100 million in grants and contracts for research by 2024. Recently, Howard surpassed that goal two years early by raising $122 million in Fiscal Year 2022, a record sum for any Historically Black College or University (HBCU). “Research and academic excellence […]
Posted inReligion
Black church tradition survives Georgia’s voting changes
By Sudhin Thanawala and Gary Fields, The Associated Press Black church leaders in Georgia organized rallies Oct. 30 in a push to get their congregants to vote — a longstanding tradition known as “souls to the polls” that is taking on greater meaning this year amid new obstacles to casting a ballot in the midterm […]
Posted inMaryland Government
Voters face thorny question in midterm ballot initiatives
By Catherine Pugh, Special to the AFRO On top of choosing the right candidate, voters are being asked to weigh in on changes Maryland needs to make for the better on Nov. 8 in the midterm elections. From marijuana legalization to the appropriate name of the state’s highest court and the right level of civil […]
Posted inBaltimore News
Baltimore clergy forge a get-out-the-vote drive
By Marnita Coleman, Special to the AFRO Most Mondays find pastors resting after their Sunday tasks of serving and leading their followers, but that is not the case now that early voting has started across Maryland. On the final Monday of the month, a group of clergy gathered at New Shiloh Baptist Church in Baltimore […]
Posted inINTERNATIONAL
Conflicting foreign interests surface in politically unstable Burkina Faso
By DaQuan Lawrence, Howard University News Service Burkina Faso recently experienced its second coup d’état this calendar year as Capt. Ibrahim Traore was sworn in as “Head of State, Supreme Head of the Armed Forces,” on Oct. 5. The transition comes after a group of officials, some of whom were aligned with the former leader, […]
Posted in#FaithWorks
Rev. Calvin Butts, influential pillar of Harlem, dies at 73
By Karen Matthews,The Associated Press The Rev. Calvin O. Butts III, who fought poverty and racism and skillfully navigated New York’s power structure as pastor of Harlem’s historic Abyssinian Baptist Church, died Oct. 28 at age 73, the church announced. “The Butts Family and entire Abyssinian Baptist Church membership solicit your prayers for us in […]
Posted inBaltimore News
Pit Fights Battle League hosts second innovative gubernatorial debate
By DaQuan Lawrence, Special to the AFRO On Oct. 30, the Pit Fights Battle League will host its second Gubernatorial Battle Rap Debate. Two contenders have studied the platforms of Democratic nominee Wes Moore and Republican nominee, Del. Dan Cox (R-MD-04), and will face off against each other in a rap battle where they take […]
Posted inPolitics
Aboard the bus, Wes Moore hopes it leads to the governor’s mansion
By SHANNON CLARK, Capital News Service WALDORF, Md. – It is a warm fall day in southern Maryland, and outside the Charles County Public Library, people are waiting. Carter Elliott, the communications guri, takes calls and monitors his phone. Volunteers stand outside the library in anticipation. A 45-foot long passenger bus sits alongside. Finally, the […]
Posted inNational News
Voter suppression tactics surface nationwide
by Karen Juanita Carrillo, Amsterdam News Across the country, Republican Party candidates have been pushing for poll watchers—self-deputized ‘election integrity’ enforcers—to be in attendance while people are voting during this year’s midterm elections. After former President Trump lost the 2020 presidential election, various GOP associates have helped promote the passage of state level anti-voter bills […]